The Kitniyot Liberation Front

On Sunday, the 13th Annual Temple Conference was held in Jerusalem. It was sponsored by the Temple Institute  and the Movement for the Establishment of the Temple. The day started with an ascent to the Temple Mount and a symposium at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem that covered a variety of topics from a whos-who of Jewish leaders (and revolutionaries). The event marks 13 years since religious Jews began regularly visiting the Temple Mount in purity--and 11 years since my own first ascent in purity (which was followed by Ariel Sharon's ascent and the Oslo War). I learned many things, but here are just ten: Louis Gordon and Rav Hagai Yekutiel  It's always great to ascent to the Temple Mount. There's no escaping the feeling of holiness where you're up there and you always learn something new. This time, I learned that when the Arabs say "Allahu Akbar", you should answer "Amen." (Hat tip: Rav Hagai Yekutiel)  I feel especially grateful ...

I ran into a friend and he told me that his child no longer suffered from a potentially life-threatening food allergy. As an infant, they had two close calls when their child went into anaphylactic shock, and they've been obsessively vigilant ever since. "So what's the secret of your success? Did you take a vaccine or allergy shots?" I asked him. "No," he answered non-chalantly. "I just go to Har HaBayit each month and pour out my heart to HaKodesh Baruch Hu. There's no place like it for prayer, not even Monsey."

Menachem-Av is upon us and the current government of Israel is helping us to feel the dread associated with the loss/absence of the Beth HaMiqdash (may it soon be rebuilt). Today it was announced that there is an amnesty for 180 shedders of Jewish blood in an effort to prop up the current leader of the Amelikite kingdom of Arafatistan. As I told a friend at lunch, I feel better when we're fighting a war and doing the "right thing" rather than "making peace" and doing the wrong thing. These terrorists have not done tshuva, nor have the orchestrators of Oslo and the Destruction of Gush Katif. Tshuva requires a confession and a regret of one's sins. Neither group has done this. And we can only hope that rumors of a "piece deal" on the Golan are only smoke and mirrors designed to keep a crooked Prime Minister out of the slammer. My friend thought that losing part of the Golan in a war would be an easy way for the government to "buy off" Syri...

Thousands of Jews went up to Har HaBayith during Chol HaMoed in ritual purity. Although I was not able to go up during the festive time, I went earlier this month. Rav Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba, went up and called for easier access for all Jews and that our sovereignty should be reasserted over the site. May it soon be so--in time for Korban Pesah next year--with soft matzoth, some romaine lettuce, a dash of charif and some hummous and tehina. See more details at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/124469